Income support claims increase by 13 per cent

THE number of people claiming Income Support has risen by 600,000, or 13 per cent, to more than five million in 1992, government statistics released yesterday show, writes Rosie Waterhouse.

The total number of claimants, partners and dependant children has risen to almost nine million. The largest increases were caused by growing numbers of lone parents, which increased to almost one million, and unemployed people, who now number almost 1.7 million.

The number of disabled people claiming support has also grown, from 293,000 in 1989 to 425,000 in 1992.

Claimants with amounts for mortgage interest payments included in their assessment rose from 300,000 in 1990 to almost 500,000 in May 1992.

The number of claimants aged 60 or over in residential care had reached 230,000 in May 1992.

The three-volume report follows the recent publication of EC figures showing that 12 million of Europe's 50 million people living in poverty, lived in Britain.